The Poison Lawsuit Seems Bogus
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 12:01AM So the boys in Poison are being sued by a now-defunct 80s band called Kid Rocker. The suit comes from Billy McCarthy and James Stonich, former members of Kid Rocker. Basically, the Kid Rocker members say that Poison ripped them off. Their lawsuit alleges that some of their songs were incorporated into Poison tracks, including the famous singles "Talk Dirty to Me" and "I Won't Forget You."
Apparently C.C. DeVille auditioned for Kid Rocker in 1984 and was given demo tapes of the band's songs. According to Kid Rocker, that's how Poison stumbled upon the obscure band's songs.
Capitol Records and EMI Music are also named in the suit. In addition to damages, McCarthy and Stonich want an injunction that prevents Poison from performing certain songs.
My thing is this: why wait this long to sue for copyright infringement? It's been over 25 years since Look What the Cat Dragged In came out. If you were a musician back in the 80s and you thought Poison of all bands ripped you off... wouldn't you be squawking a fit to any and everyone who would listen? This whole thing reeks of a cash grab. I know I should wait and reserve judgement, but it's hard on this one. What do you think?
Reader Comments (17)
They should sue that Rob Richie guy for stealing their name too. :-D
There is no way this song was stolen, because bret michaels never stole a single ounce of talent...just ask david lee roth, jon bon jovi, michael monroe, the kix singer, screamin minis, tom keifer.
someone in the cinderella 'camp' once told me that the line in Unskinny bop "we'll see whose ridin who in the end of the race" was a FU to other lead singers of the time. First, grammatically speaking, it should be, "who's riding whom...
But if you steal all of your material, of course you'll be riding high...for a while that is....
I hope Billy McCarthy and James Stonich get their day in court.
*Of special interest to Allyson, Ronnie 10/10 from KIX was a member of Kid Rocker for about a month, during the time he left KIX in the "Cool Kids" era.
P.S. If anyone should sue C.C. for lifting "Talk Dirty To Me", it should be Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick, as T.D.T.M. is directly lifted from Cheap Trick's "She's Tight".
They might certainly get shown the door and told to make sure it doesn't hit them on the way out. But, THEY apparently need closure or are looking for a payday. If it's the former, closure it shall be. If it's the latter, good riddance. either way, they will NOT get what they're seeking.
There could be any number of reasons why they waited so long....but if it occurred, waiting doesn't change the facts.
You've got to figure, by waiting so long to make this claim I'm sure they can ask for a greater amount based on the fact that Poison profited more over the years.
Lawsuits like this happen a lot more than you think. Believe it or not, many bands reach a settlement long before the case goes to court. Especially if it is true. That way they can pay off the originator and work out a financial arrangement to continue to play the songs in the future. This way the band who steals ideas is able to keep it hush so they don't ruin their public image... and the originator of the idea (song) gets paid also.
You would be surprised how many bands have agreements of this nature.
Anyone could get into their garage, use a 4 track and record themselves playing poison songs, and then say that their demo tape was recorded before look what the cat dragged in.
Even if they prove that their songs where done before, they also have to show that exact sections of the song were taken. Easy for some songs (intro to sweet child o mine) but for any chord based song (which lets be honest, most sound similar to each other) it would be a lot harder to prove that that section of music was stolen.
LOOK WHAT THE LAW DRAGGED IN!!!!!